Monday, April 29, 2013

Tasty Tuesday-Our Favorite Kibble

Over the years our mom has fed us a lot of different kibbles, from the not so good: Iams to the good: Nature's Variety to the great: Orijen and she has read about a zillion pages on the subject of dog nutrition.  In her heart of hearts mom wants to feed us raw and for a brief time she tried it.  However, it just wasn't practical our small, easily flooded basement did not really accommodate a freezer.  Mom felt more comfortable feeding us high quality pre-made raw and that was super expensive for all five us, plus Dad was never keen on the whole project.  Mom still feels that a raw diet is the healthiest option for most dogs, so as a compromise mom started feeding us Orijen.

Basically Orijen takes this concept:


and turns out a domestic version.

 
We get our Orijen delivered month from Mr. Chewy:

"Ohhh there is something tasty in here!"




Mom likes Orijen because its one kibble that really tries to approximate a species appropriate diet.  This basically means that Orijen tries to duplicate the diet of wild candid, like a wolf.  That means lots of meat, some fruits and vegetables, and no grains.   The meat is also included in the kibble in what Orijen calls whole prey format, meaning that the liver, tripe, cartilage, and marrow of the animal sources is also included in the kibble.  The fruits and vegetables provide an antioxidant boost and the kibble also includes botanical ingredients (flowers and weeds like those that a wolf might graze on in the wild), vitamins and minerals, and amino acids.  Here is the ingredients list from Regional Red the food we just got from Mr. Chewy:
  

Fresh deboned wild boar, fresh deboned lamb, lamb meal, russet potato, fresh deboned pork, peas, salmon meal, whitefish meal*, herring meal, fresh deboned bison, fresh whole eggs, potato starch, fresh deboned salmon (a natural source of DHA and EPA), alfalfa, sweet potato, fresh deboned walleye, salmon oil (naturally preserved with vitamin E and citric acid), pea fiber, psyllium, pumpkin, tomatoes, carrots, apples, cranberries, Saskatoon berries, black currants, chicory root, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, organic kelp, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, zinc proteinate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, iron proteinate, vitamin B6, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, selenium, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.
 



"The ingredients look good, Bob."


 The regional in the name comes from the fact that all of Orijen's meats and vegetable ingredients come from local Canadian Farmers.  You can read about all the farms on Orijen's website (link.)   The meats in Orijen are cage free or free range and the fish is wild caught, which mom really likes.  She tries to eat those kinds of meats herself and wants to do the same for us.  

 Orijen food is packaged in Canada in a safe facility to make sure no contaminates can get in the food.  All of their foods get a five star rating on dog food advisor.   They have also been named pet food of the year by the Glycemic Research Institute for three years running.  High glycemic foods like corn and potatoes have been linked to health problems such as diabetes, obesity and cancer.  Orijen is one of the few pet food companies that avoids high glycemic foods in their kibble.

At our house mom rotates are kibble between the 6 fish, Adult Dog ,  and Regional Red  varieties.  That way we get an even more varied diet and a range of protein sources.  Mom also adds frequently adds fresh foods to our kibble and lots of supplements.  
"I wonder what flavor we will get next month...."
 Orijen is not cheap, its one of the more expensive kibbles out there at about 90 dollars for a 28.6 pound bag, but with its quality ingredients its worth it.  Plus mom thinks we eat a little bit less of this food then we have of others.   A 29 lb bag lasts the five of us about 3 weeks.  Of course how much your dog will eat depends on how their unique metabolism and exercise level.



"I am totally worth it!"
We give Orijen our highest rating 4 paws, plus a bonus paw because its so fabulous!

23 comments:

  1. I am e enjoying the photo of the wild wolf and it's context in this post! I am toying with the idea of making food. Or the dogs, so I found this really interesting. I will have to look into this brand!

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  2. I hear great things about Orijen and it's Canadian, woohoo!

    I might start feeding the dogs raw come summer time. I sell home made dog treats in Toronto and one of my regulars wants to team up and start a raw food venture because he has a connection to organic, grass fed organs and I have the know how :P

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  3. Nummys- I would like a taste of that yummy food,
    love
    tweedles

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  4. Sounds like a great compromise. Peeps won't let us have raw food as we'd probably drag it off to eat it on the soft furnishings or on the carpet. Sigh. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  5. That sounds like the perfect food for dogs - glad it doesn't come in it's original form, ewww.
    Lynne x

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  6. That food looks scrummy..I have kibble and have since I was a pup.. xx00xx

    Mollie and Alfie

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  7. I'm not sure I've ever seen that locally - we will have to try it too. We've tried raw, which Sam has really liked but for big dogs the storage got to be an issue.

    Sam

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  8. Thanks for the great post. Orijen scores high in our Food Database we recently released in our App. It's a great food and contains many of the components we recommend. Funny - our Tasty Tuesday article today is about dog food too!

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  9. I feed primarily pre-packaged raw and you are so right, VERY expensive. I also keep kibble on hand for when I forget to thaw some raw as well as when we travel with the dogs. I feed Great Life which has a freeze-dried raw coating, but your Origen sounds wonderful, too!

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  10. Woof! Woof! Hey that's my FOOD too (well the senior kind). LOVE it! It's been my food for years and great for my allergies. Happy Tasty Tuesday. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  11. I LOVED being on Orijen! It was my favorite but my vet said that it might have been too much protein for me so I had to change. Is the protein amount different for different kinds of Orijen products? I agree with your mama about the entire raw diet. Sounds fabulous and all but we are not sure that my parents can actually do it given it takes up time and space.

    We have been busy for the past week putting up our new blog layout so we have not been able to comment! Come by and check it out when you have the chance!

    Love,

    Bunk The Pug.

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    Replies
    1. Hey Bunk,
      Check out Acana (made by the same company as Orijen) for lower protein amounts.
      Love,
      Christy

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  12. Great post about a controversial topic. When we finish the current bag of Blue Buffalo we'll give it a try on your and Sugar's recommendation. (have been seeing some stuff about changes with the Blue that worry me so I had already decided to change to something else)...
    Be careful with raw diets, my daughter works for a vet and says they have seen some very sick dogs with salmonella and in at least one case the owner had it too. That said I'm sure it is very nutritious for those who can do it. Which I can't - too expensive and time consuming.

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  13. You have five dogs and the bag lasts three weeks? That's amazing! Hm.
    www.dogtreatweb.com

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  14. I did do some thinking about raw diet, too, but I'm a bit scared of general idea of raw. Orijen was one of my choices for my boys, but Goro rejected it so they are on Wellness Core now. Though his taste might have changed so I think I will try Orijen little by little again.
    Thank you for your comment about cod skin treat. It is great to know!! I will get one for my boys!

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  15. Back before we switched to raw, Orijen and it's sister brand, Acana were two of our favourite kibbles and Mama really considered them the gold star to which she compared other products. It's good stuff, eh?

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  16. That was a great post. It's pretty overwhelming to try to figure out what is best so thanks, I know you've done your homework so I will be checking out there site to see. Thanks a bunch!

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  17. Oh, hey can you email me maybe? dogloverofmaxATgmailDOTcom, my daughter and I are seriously thinking of perhaps going to NYC in early January or February and would love some recommendations for fun, cheap(ish) places to visit eat, things to do and once we confirm dates would love to maybe be able to meet ya if you had the time while we are there!

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  18. We decided to switch to Honest Kitchen and Acana (Orijen's sister food) from Fromm. Fromm only has grain and poultry free varieties in beef and pork now and I prefer fish as the primary protein source.
    Love,
    Christy

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  19. I think your mom should let the pack of pugs hunt down their own food...oh wait, they are hunting in the kitchen, right?
    ;-)
    This is a very good food - we also like the ingrediants of Taste of the Wild but find the graphics on the bag a little much...none of us go out hunting beyond the kitchen and we'll eat lots of things a wolf wouldn't touch.

    Having observed what a Labrador will ingest and thrive on though, our mom is convinced that peeps become more concerned about what goes into our mouths than us dogs do. :-)
    She cooked for us for a while but then shook her head and went back to kibble....

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  20. Your kibble sounds pawtastic! I'm eating Merrick right now which I practically inhale. Mama thinks raw is best too but can't bring herself to actually feeding it to me, germs and bacteria stuff she says. So cooked or dehydrated for now!

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  21. Man, Mr. Chewy never fails to deliver what us dogs like. :)

    I'm glad you guys found a food that you all like and that is good for you. I have tried a bunch of food over the years and did eat the Orijen for a while (The fish-based kibble). It has a good reputation, and like you mentioned, it has high-quality ingredients. I really liked it and it did make me feel like a wolf but after a while my poops got runny so I ended up switching to something else. I like to change it up every once in a while, y'know.

    -Love,
    Sid.

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